FF Balance

Developed over a period of ten years, FF Balance is an experimental sans serif which subverts the conventions of the style. Its horizontal strokes are heavier than the verticals and it appears slightly heavier on the top than the bottom. Another unusual functional feature is that all weights and numerals of the family have equal widths, which lets text maintain the same length when converted to another weight.

Noel Gallagher’s statement that reading fiction is a “fucking waste of time” and readers are “putting themselves a tiny little bit above the rest of us” – is a valuable contribution.

Cathy Nicol: Isle of Joy

Vince Smith met bandmates Jim Kelly and Nancy Gibbs at a Sex Pistols concert, where he tried to kiss Sid Vicious’ guitar and got a bloody nose. Together they formed Aftershock, and for a while they made a lot of noise, a bit of money and caused a sensation wherever they went.